Hungarian PM arrives in Tbilisi on official visit
While in Tbilisi, Orbán will hold a face-to-face meeting with his Georgian counterpart Irakli Garibashvili. Photo: Government press office
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Viktor Orbán, the Hungarian Prime Minister, arrived in Georgia on Tuesday on an official visit alongside his wife and representatives of his Government, the Georgian Government Administration said.
Georgian Foreign Minister Ilia Darchiashvili, the country’s Ambassador to Hungary Tamar Liluashvili and Anna Sikó, the Hungarian Ambassador to Georgia, welcomed the official and his delegation at Tbilisi airport.
While in Tbilisi, Orbán will hold a face-to-face meeting with his Georgian counterpart Irakli Garibashvili, before a meeting of the intergovernmental commission and signing of a memorandum, the Government press office added.
A joint press briefing of Garibashvili and Orbán has also been scheduled following their meeting.
The visit comes ahead of the European Commission report either later this month or early November on Georgia’s implementation of the European Union conditions for obtaining the bloc’s candidacy in December.
In his previous comments, Orbán slammed the European Council’s decision last year on granting Tbilisi a European perspective instead of the full candidate status as “unfair”, and called for a “merit-based” outcome later this year, while describing himself as the “most devoted supporter” of Georgia’s European integration.
Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orbán on Friday highlighted his “devotion” to Georgia's European Union membership on the sidelines of the European Political Community Summit in Granada.
Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjártó on Tuesday said Georgia “must receive” the European Union membership candidate status this autumn, as the Georgian Government had “done everything” for the outcome.
Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán on Thursday praised his Georgian counterpart by saying Georgia under his Government was an example of a state maintaining “values” while living under a “shadow of Russia”.
Georgian and Hungarian prime ministers on Wednesday discussed the “positive dynamic" in "friendly relations” between their counties and prospects to further strengthen cooperation at a dinner hosted by Viktor Orbán in honour of Irakli Garibashvili, the Georgian government administration said.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on Tuesday hosted his visiting Hungarian counterpart Viktor Orbán and his wife at a dinner in Bioli wellness resort near Tbilisi, where the officials discussed “friendly ties and partnership” in an informal environment before their scheduled official meeting on Wednesday, the Government press office said.
Maka Botchorishvili, the Chair of the Georgian Parliament's European Union Integration Committee, on Wednesday said Hungary was expected to be “vocal” in voicing its support for Georgia’s European integration at the Council of the European Union, the bloc’s key decision-maker, ahead of the EU’s decision later this year whether to grant Tbilisi its membership candidate status.
Ilia Darchiashvili, the Georgian Foreign Minister, on Wednesday said the ongoing visit of Viktor Orbán, the Hungarian Prime Minister, to Georgia expressed the country’s “strong support” for Georgia’s European integration ahead of the bloc’s forthcoming decision on Tbilisi’s candidate status later this year.
Nunuka Tamazashvili and Anikó Lévai, the spouses of Georgian and Hungarian prime ministers, Irakli Garibashvili and Viktor Orbán, on Wednesday were hosted at Georgian artist David Kakabadze’s enamel and goldsmith workshop.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán on Thursday said his Government was “very disappointed and angry” at the European Council’s 2022 decision not to grant Georgia its membership candidate status while granting it to the countries that were “far behind” in terms of their qualifications.
Irakli Kobakhidze, the head of the Georgian Dream ruling party, commenced a four-day visit to Hungary on Tuesday for meetings with the country's top officials, as announced by the party's press office.